The jacket Chrysalde lent him was lemon yellow linen with pale green silk lining. Ben put it on, the silk rustling against his fingertips. A disguise was no good unless it was complete. And now he was completely in disguise. He closed his eyes. Tried to fit into this new skin. A flamboyant persona, with turquoise hair and a name that made people choke with laughter. Yes, he could deal with that. Use it if he had to. A buffoon – no. Someone who’d grown up with the adversity of a ridiculous name would not be a buffoon. He was tough. He’d been made fun of all through school, first because of his name, then because—he glanced over at Chrysalde—because he was gay. Yes, he’d be gay too. That would make his character more believable with the lemon sherbet jacket and teal hair. He felt a smile tug his lips. He was starting to believe his own made-up history.

In the taxi, Chrysalde filled Ben in as to who he was going to meet. “You have an appointment with Miss Amelia. She’s Souche’s protégé. He has all but adopted her. Rumor has it she’s being groomed to take over all public relations for Souche Enterprises.”

Ben thought hard. He knew Souche, but had never heard of an adopted daughter. “Where did she come from?”

“She was in an all girl’s school in Switzerland. Some sort of nunnery I suppose for wealthy young women. Souche wanted to protect her from the ‘real world’. I hear he’s grooming her to take his place at his side. He’s announced that he intends to marry her.”

Ben blinked. “How old is she? Souche must be as old as my father!”

“She’s terribly young. It will be a May December wedding, that’s for sure.” Chrysalde batted his eyelashes. “How tacky of me, gossiping like this.” He giggled, and Ben stared thoughtfully out the window.

Souche enterprises was located in an ultra modern building made of steel and glass. It was huge, cold, and said very clearly, ‘I am a huge, vastly important conglomerate and you are a tiny insignificant flea.’ Ben felt right at home. Chrysalde led him to a plush office in the heart of the building.

“Amelia, meet Mr. Ben,” he gave the slightest pause. “Dover. Ben, this is Amelia Lawn.”

“Hello Mr. Dover. I’m pleased to meet you.” She frowned distractedly at a pile of papers in her hands and shoved them on a nearby desk. Then she looked up at him and smiled.

Ben found himself staring into a pair of unattractive horn-rimmed glasses hiding clear brown eyes. The eyes were fringed with long, dark, curly lashes, and below the eyes were a straight nose, full lips, and dimples. Two adorable dimples. The rest of her was dowdy. Shapeless gray dress, nondescript hairdo, no make-up at all; just a scrubbed ‘girl-next-door’ look that didn’t suit her at all. How strange. He recognized a beautiful woman hidden behind the unattractive glasses and clothes. Why would a woman pretend to be so plain? Most of the time they were trying to make themselves more attractive. He was unsure what his reaction should be. A beautiful woman was easy to flirt with and charm. She seemed to want to hide. Why? It made no sense, and it intrigued him.

“Pleased to me you too.” He was about to apologize for being late, but remembered his father saying, ‘never start off a business relationship with an apology.’ It was good advice. Instead, he said, “When I got my appointment, the letter neglected to say what the job interview was for. Can you fill me in before I meet the boss?”

She looked surprised. “Of course. The job is to be my personal assistant. In the past year, I’ve had three. Mr. Souche is quite particular about who works with me. He chooses the assistants himself.”

This was unexpected. He’d sent in a résumé, expecting a job in management, and instead he’d been slotted into an assistant’s position. “And what, may I ask, does this job require?”

“It’s more of a secretarial job. Taking appointments, making sure I’m on time to meetings. Taking notes for me.”

“Taking your notes?” A wave of anger hit him. His résumé had been high level management, not lowly assistant secretary. Keep cool, he told himself sternly. A red face would look terrible with blue hair.

“I’m completely dyslexic, so I need someone to help me with me with notes and such.” Her grin sent her dimples dancing. “I hope you’re not disappointed. I loved your resume, and I thought you might be perfect for the job.”

“Ah.” His first instinct was to flee, but an idea, not unlike a hurricane, was slowly taking shape over the warm waters of his imagination and gathering strength. This was Mr. Souche’s fiancée? A new sort of revenge was offered to him. Corporate and emotional ruin. He smiled what he knew was his most devastating smile and saw her blink rapidly. “Why didn’t the other assistants work out?”

“One flirted with the opposition, and the other took me shopping one day and took me to a store completely unsuitable for a young lady of my upbringing and disposition.” The dimples had vanished. Ben revised his first impression. She wasn’t only dowdy, she was a prude. And if he was posing as a homosexual, he’d better cool the smiles. He could do that too.

He made his expression frosty. “How unfortunate for you.” Now he’d flustered her. She turned scarlet, her pale skin shading like a deep-sea creature. He felt a moment’s pity but his plan had crystallized now, and nothing would stop it.

Description: Arnold Souche has everything under control. He made a mistake with his first wife, but his second wife will be perfect. So that she doesn’t get any wild ideas, he sends her to an all-girls school in Switzerland to be raised by nuns, and gives her in the dowdiest clothes possible. Amelia is content to go along with Arnold, until the day Ben arrives in her life and suddenly she realizes that nothing can replace passion and love. But if she leaves Arnold, she’ll owe him a quarter of a million dollars, and suddenly true love is looking like something she’ll never attain.

To My Readers: I’m a classics lover, so some of you will recognize Moliére’s influence in this tale. But the theme of man wanting to control woman and being thwarted by true love is a classic. How many well-laid plans have gone awry because Cupid shot his arrow and hit the wrong target? I hope you have as much fun reading this comedy of arrows – er, errors, as I had writing it!

Arnold Souche has everything under control. He made a mistake with his first wife, but his second wife will be perfect. So that she doesn’t get any wild ideas, he sends her to an all-girls school in Switzerland to be raised by nuns, and gives her in the dowdiest clothes possible. Amelia is content to go along with Arnold, until the day Ben arrives in her life and suddenly she realizes that nothing can replace passion and love. But if she leaves Arnold, she’ll owe him a quarter of a million dollars, and suddenly true love is looking like something she’ll never attain.

Losing everything you own isn’t so bad when you find more than you’d hoped for in love. When a sharp-minded, bankrupted businessman, and a not-so-prim affianced woman meet, she thinks he’s gay and he lets her in order to seek revenge against her betrothed. It’s a classic star crossed-lovers tale where the couple loses their hearts and hopes of being together when all odds are against them.

The heroine, Amelia, is a contrast between innocence and sultry sexuality as she attempts to use her wiles on men and finds she isn’t very good at it. One minute she’s submissive, the next ready to take on the world of business and career. When she meets the hero, she doesn’t worry about barriers but sets out to get what she wants. The only downside to her in the beginning is giving in to a relationship only because she’s afraid of not having money and someone to care for her.

The hero in this story, Ben, acts as though he’d do anything for revenge, yet when he believes that Amelia will be hurt by his actions, he redeems himself and does his best to help her get what she wants while planning on keeping her for himself. He’s a good man and it shows in his care of her.

As the villain, Amelia’s guardian and fiancé tries to keep her under his thumb until she begins to blossom in a ‘My Fair Lady’ way under Ben’s tutelage. From the start this man is unlikeable and one only hopes he doesn’t succeed, though it seems he holds all the cards.

The Wife School makes you believe that you’ve time-warped back to old England then fast-forwarded once again to the Millennium where Amelia and Ben find true love while Souche gets his just desserts. The heroine was a contradiction between innocence and an experienced woman who, though she had a strong sense of honor about marrying Souche because of the contract, had no concerns about sleeping with his enemy.

All in all, the story was a pleasant read, well-written, and easy and quick to read.

Reviewed by Ambrosia

The Wife School by Samantha Winston

The light humor and colorful characters started to draw me into their lives very quickly.

Benjamin Ferrier’s life is shattered when a corporate shark ruins his father’s life long business and his inheritance. He becomes Ben Dover, a completely new person set out to take back what was his. He gets employed by the company that should have belonged to him but no longer is.

Under a new identity complete with bright blue hair and a less masculine personality, Ben decides to not only ruin Arthur Souche’s business but his personal life as well. Ben is now Mr. Souche’s fiancé’s personal assistant.

A beautiful woman hidden behind a dowdy exterior, Amelia is engaged to marry Mr. Souche who has personally seen to her education complete with a finishing school in Switzerland. It seems Mr. Souche has taken Amelia and made her into the wife he’s always wanted. Or has he? Amelia has her own raw needs and is looking towards Ben to fulfill them.

Ben begins to have erotic and lush fantasies about the oh so proper Amelia except in his fantasies she is far from proper and much more sexy.

Fetishes emerge no matter how hard Ben tries to suppress them. Meanwhile Amelia’s trying very hard to be the perfect public relations manager she can be but her fiancé is secretly trying to ruin her career so that she’ll be his ideal stay at home wife and be available to his every whim.~~ Night Owl Romance

THE WIFE SCHOOL

by Samantha Winston

Ben’s inheritance was stolen from him by his father’s business partner and friend. The family company is finished. The best thing for Ben to do now is to start working on building his finances up again. But Ben has a bone to pick with the man who ruined his family. The need for revenge is strong. What better way to pay back Arnold Souche than to take away his financial security? Ben cannot use his real name because Arnold will recognize it. So, he changes his name and his persona. For the time being he is Ben Dover. Ben Dover with wild blue hair and a flashy persona.

Ben is hired as assistant to Souche’s protege. The protege who is also Souche’s fiancée. At first glance, Ben thinks Amelia is a prude. By the end of the day it is obvious to him that Amelia Lawn is being set up for something. The woman was taken straight from finishing school to being in charge of public relations. She is being primed to be the ’perfect’ wife. Ben sees a new title for himself: Fairy godmother to her Cinderella.

Amelia Lawn wants to succeed in her job and she wants to be the best wife possible for Arnold. What she doesn’t want is to be the little wife who stays at home and never utters a contrary word to the man of the house. Admittedly, Amelia was swept off her feet when Arnold wooed her, but now she feels like he wants to set her up on a shelf to be admired from afar. She prefers to be taken to bed and admired up close. But Arnold offers nothing but chaste kisses.

Amelia doesn’t love Arnold, but she agreed to marry him and so she shall. He need never know her fantasies are of a blue haired gay man.

In The Wife School by Samantha Winston, the heroine Amelia, was groomed from a young age to become the bride of the wealthy Arnold Souche. She faithfully submitted to Arnold’s wishes until Ben entered her life. Ben awakened a desire for more and with his help Amelia’s world changed forever.

This hilarious retelling of the Moilère play is filled with misunderstandings, white lies, and steamy sex. I’m sure the playwright would have loved it as will the reader.

Keep in mind this is not a romance novel or you will be disappointed. With that in mind you will have no choice but to enjoy this fun read.